Colombian authorities are investigating after bullet holes were discovered on an American Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 following its flight from Medellín, Colombia, to Miami — raising fresh safety concerns about the popular travel destination.
A preliminary investigation indicates the plane was struck while landing at Medellín’s José María Córdova International Airport on Sunday (February 22). No injuries were reported.
The aircraft, registered as N342SX, departed Miami on Sunday evening as Flight AA923 bound for Medellín. It returned to Miami the following morning, Monday (February 23), as Flight AA924, landing at approximately 10:33 a.m. The roughly three-hour flight over the Caribbean completed without incident.
It was only during a routine post-flight inspection at Miami International Airport that ground crews made the alarming discovery. Maintenance workers found puncture marks on the plane’s right aileron — the section of the wing that controls the aircraft’s roll and lateral balance. Flight technicians conducted temporary structural patching at the Miami airport to stabilize the wing before the plane was cleared for further travel.
American Airlines confirmed the damage in a statement. “Following a routine inspection, our teams identified a puncture to the exterior of one of our aircraft in Medellín, Colombia,” the airline said. “The aircraft was immediately removed from service for further inspection and repair. We will work closely with all relevant authorities to investigate this incident.”
The airline said that the puncture did not cause any flight-related issues during the return journey.
Later that Monday evening, approximately 10 hours after landing in Miami, the plane departed on a non-commercial flight to American Airlines’ primary maintenance hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, where the airline is headquartered. Specialized engineers there are assessing whether any additional aircraft mechanisms were affected. The plane currently remains grounded at the facility.
Colombian authorities say they are focusing on a criminal group as the likely source of the gunfire, though nothing has been confirmed. Medellín, once infamous in the 1990s for extreme violence and drug-related crime, has transformed in recent decades into a popular tourist destination — making the incident all the more striking. The investigation remains ongoing.
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